New World Fall of Zion
by Johnny B. Marvel
Summary: Zion, the government itself has become a whirlpool of international slavery, deception and manipulation under the cover of the perfect world populated by the perfect society, eliminating mutants or capturing them to further the Zion's unknown goal, but there is a resistance that could bring this Utopia to its destruction, there are those who will fight back for their freedom.
1. Chapter 1

The New World. Fall of Zion

It was supposed to be a new world…a better world, a perfect world. Our planet is not Earth anymore; it is called the 'Utopia' where there is only peace and no war, no famine, no sickness, no choice and no space for the strange. Strange like me, so for now I will use my alias in every recording for my safety and those associated with me; I am Shadowcat nothing more and nothing less…if it is possible. I am part of the precious few that exist beyond the control of Zion, of our President Warren Worthington who is a part of the Zion. Zion, the creator of the new and everlasting paradise, meant for all…Zion will fall; I swear on my life that this Utopia will come crumbling down, earth deserves it's title, it might not be perfect, but this Utopia is the genocide of freedom and democracy. F**k you Mr President, f**k you Zion

What was New York_ New Zion of America:

It was a cold dingy and night in New Zion; and when I say dingy, I only mean one place, the gutters. One of the places where the machines of Zion cannot function; there is a type of radiation in these secluded streets, to end the life cycle within the gutters the Zion has cut all ties to it. No supplies, no source of water, of travel or any outside contact with the rest of the world and they put boom gates outside of every exit route nothing could get in and out. They were purposely trying to make everyone die out; or make those who couldn't stand anymore convert, the only way to live was to submit. But not since the mutations, at first it only started on the outside but it has finally effected the gutters. People expected the worse, what if they became mutants, what if their children became mutants, what if their children were born mutants; people are afraid of what they don't understand. And I should know that better than anyone else, I know mutants and mutation is a little closer to home than most. When the mutants had evolved and the secret was finally affirmed, the normals, that's what they call people who aren't mutants, wanted to stamp the mutants out of existence, but Dr John suggested that instead of killing mutants what if they could help bring supplies into the gutters and give safe passage to everyone. At first people were hesitant, but no one argues with Doc, there was Betty Thomson, Jake Cooper, my sister, Ian Summers, Sammy August and I; we were the only mutants to begin with. I could walk through walls, my sister could become invisible, Betty could read minds, Jake was super strong, Ian could make people see whatever he wanted them to see. I liked Ian's power the most, he could make me forget the gutters and we'd go places, he said he would take me to the moon, but Ian's gone now and so is my sister that's why I am going to destroy Zion. Zion is the government, with Warren Worthington as our president who won the elections by a landslide; but Zion doesn't remain in the United States, all through Europe, Asia, India, Africa and almost all that lie beyond or in between. Some countries are Zion free, but barely, they can hold off the Zion for only so long before they succumb, because the municipality of Zion are mutants. They look for mutant's and capture them for their own purposes; oh they say it is for the greater good, but whatever they are really doing is against people's will, call them what you want, freaks, mutant scum, but they are still people… the whole thing is wrong.

So here I am, walking the streets of the gutters with no specific destination, not a clue where I am going but I just have to walk to clear my thoughts. I look around me and I see the skeletal road, I see a black suit, then a white one. Holllllyyy…they're trackers. The black suits are human trackers and the white suits are mutant trackers, they hunt down mutants and take them to the compound, how did they get into the gutters? The other mutant patrollers are supposed to be on guard this time of the night, but I am all alone and I can hear them coming, I can see the black and white moving in and out of the corners of the maze-like alley ways leading to the street. Unlike all those girls who either walk towards the source of danger or stand dead still in the open for the danger to find them, I run, even when I can feel my heart beat twice the speed that I am running at; I am not going to let them catch me. I see the shutdown hotel and I run towards it, forget the door, I run right through the wall and everything that's in my way, one more wall and then another, I'm so close I know I can make it out of here. I see a flash of light in my direction and someone leaps onto me and he tries to hold me down, I pull my arm right through his and punch him with all the strength that I've got and carry on running, I can hear the groaning and the sloppy sound of the guy trying to get up, I keep running. Running is what I'm good at, running through walls is what I do best, because running is the only thing that has kept me from being caught by the Trackers, the compound and Zion.


	2. Chapter Two

Running wasn't enough.

It was like trying to out run the sunlight; more were approaching at a steady rate. I fell as a tremor shook the earth, everything was either thrown in the opposite direction or violently shifted from one side to another, a chandelier above me came crashing down and I had to let it pass right throw me before I continued to run. A blur crossed my path with such speed that I was thrown backwards by its momentum, then someone caught me and wrapped their massive arms around me, it was the same guy that had tried to catch me before, it was the same guy who was squeezing the life out of me I passed through his arms a second time and instead of confronting him I decided in a split second that it was better to run than waste time. Just as I turned around, a charge of energy went through me, an energy that was like electricity on fire; and just like that the world went black.

One week later…

We found another pocket of resistance that had tried to escape us after they had stolen a supply truck to our facilities, of course we had to apprehend them, the law had forbidden all acts of crime and for good reason. We cannot have a Utopia with the evils of the resistance in it, luckily most of them were mutants that were recruited; they had tried to run and fight us; they didn't see that we were there to liberate them from that awful place that they call the "gutter" even the name sounds bitter on my tongue. These were people that just needed to see the real good of the Zion's ways, sometimes violence and sacrifice is necessary for the greater good. Killing and kidnapping family members and friends seemed to be the only way to make them cooperate and once we put the Nano chip in their necks they could feel the relief the Zion so righteously gave them and they became one of us. I look down from the second floor of the New Zion Skyscraper, and I see our citizens all walking around in the sunlight enjoying the spring that the Zion had created, children laughing and playing sitting and talking peacefully with their parents; people going about their daily routine greeting each other and having conversations. Peach trees blossoming and milk white lilies in every pond; this was Utopia. Why are there so many people that choose to fight this harmony? Something catches my eye immediately I put my phone to my ear and alert the lower authorities that someone was violating the tenth law in our constitution. They responded immediately and found the perpetrator, a girl had climbed a peach tree; and now she is picking the flowers. They grabbed her and she screamed, two held her arms as one of our mutant recruits threw a ball of atomic electricity completely obliterating her leaving nothing behind, they retrieved a new daughter for the parents and they accepted her lovingly. Much better, this is how a Utopia was maintained, isolate the problem and resolve it, but always make sure that everyone is happy and they were, I walked away.

"Well done, agent Shade, you have never failed to keep our peace in balance." The executive of the New Zion authority division said.

"It is only a pleasure and honour to serve our country to the best of my ability, sir." I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming satisfaction build up within me, the executive was impressed with me.

"And that you do that quite well, which is why you will no longer be needed at your current post." My heart dropped, he was going to relieve me from my duties.

"Because I feel that no one but you deserves the open seat at the executive table when I announce that you will have the position of high superior, are you promoting me, sir? I couldn't believe, I wouldn't dare to believe it, he gave a knowing grin.

"Yes agent Shade, the direct post beneath mine that guarantees you the right to become the next executive should I step down from my title." I almost had an out of body experience where I would be looking at this scene in disbelief, I wanted to give the man a hug but that was out of protocol.

"I promise you sir that I will do my best to not fail, or disappoint you."

"I know you won't and please, no sir any more you can call me Mr Hiram.

"Everything is falling into place, David, can you imagine what this could do for me!? I will be working with one of the best executives of our department."

"Yes I heard you the first time, this is really important to you and it means a lot to me that you're happy."

"Happy? This is the best thing that has ever happened to me."

"And what am I, the second?" He teased, she gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"Another kiss." He asked and I smiled at him, my typical David.

"Not tonight, you are going to wear me out before tomorrow when I start my new job."

"Well there's one part that I like about that sentence." He said, with a laugh, I pulled him back by his hair.

"Later okay!?" He grinned at me and lied down on his back.

"Okay, but …"

"But nothing, sleep!" And the lights went off, David is an easy sleeper and he was out like a candle, the whole day just kept on racing in my mind starting over and over again like a scene in a movie that was stuck in repeat. Slowly but surely I could feel my eyelids become heavy from sleep and I shut them.

I was running through a dark and musty smelling building, I could feel myself panic from the emanate danger that was hot on my heels. I ran through walls to avoid it whatever it was that was chasing me; where was I going and what was my goal, was I lost? Someone lunged at me and wrestled me to the ground, nearly twenty laws were being broken here and now. I should stop and apprehend the criminal, but my gut told me to not let go of whatever control in this situation, so phased through his arms and hit him as hard as possible breaking another law. As I was running I thought of turning around and apologising, this was not the behaviour of a soon to be high superior, but once again the urge of survival had overcome my diplomacy and all of a sudden the earth began to tremble. The ground shook and many objects were flying from one side of the room to another, keep going Shadow Cat, Shadow Cat? Was I referring to myself as Shadow Cat, what was even a Shadow Cat? There was a creaking noise and I looked up allowing the chandelier that had fallen above me to pass through my body as I carried on running; all of a sudden a blur crossed my path, so fast that the momentum of it sent me flying backwards into the arms of the same man I had escaped from. He was squeezing the living daylight out of me and I phased through his arms again ready to kick him in the nut sack, but instead I turned around to run and a charge of red hot energy passed through my chest. I sat bolt up in my bed, I had broken out into a cold sweat.

"Cathy, is everything okay?" David asked me sitting up immediately.

"No David, everything is not okay."

"Tell every agent of every subdivision that we are widening the net around the gutters. I want every mutant recruited by no less than the end of next week. No more wasting time by being complacent, if they are looking for trouble then we will either find a solution or isolate the problem and resolve it it completely." I told my PA, my dream had opened my eyes we were being too content within perfecting our Utopia when we failed to finish off what was trying to unravel the system. He sent a group call to every individual within the New Zion division, when he put his phone away he turned to me I acknowledged the fact that he wanted questions and I nodded in approval.

"Why are we taking such aggressive action, high superior?"

"We have been trying to defend our people and our land from those who wish to ruin our Utopia. Yet they still find ways to resist the peace we offer them and in doing so they have harmed many people, theirs and ours. They wish to overthrow the Zion and without the Zion there will be anarchy, chaos, crimes will infest our society and ruin it, these people of the gutters with their unity, democracy and free choice. History has shown us what these things have done, they preserve sexual abuse and murders, thefts, abortions, capitalism and communism, domestic violence, peer pressure, pollution and poaching and still the people of the gutters try to force these ideologies on us. They must be removed from New Zion forever." I could feel my anger reaching a boiling crescendo, but I stopped composed myself.

"Do you see agent Sanchez, it's what best for New Zion and Utopia. The world will be a better place without the gutters."

"And what about the other corners of resistence?"

"Then we will remove them from the picture as well, it what's best for the grand design. Do you agree agent Sanchez?" I asked with one eyebrow up, softly staring him down, he let the subject go and nodded.

"Yes, High Superior, it is in the best interest of New Zion."

"Good, you can go now and carry on with you duties, but angent Sanchez."

"Yes High Superior?"

"This conversation stays between us."

"Yes High Superior." And I politely waved him away, yes I am going to do well as High Superior and one day they will be calling me the executive. First, every non mutant will have to be killed or held captive to smoke the mutants out and then we'll catch them. If the government was over thrown they they'd try to take the law into their own hands and be universal heroes; and what if saving the world wouldn't be good enough they could take over the world and exploit it. So what if a few humans had to die, this is for the greater good… the lesser of two evils. They say better the devil you know than the devil you don't, but the Zion isn't the devil it could be a god.


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't enough that all the subdivisions were surrounding and infiltrating the gutters, all of the citizens have to be on high alert, which means that they had to be on compensatory release, everyone has to be in control of their own actions, but with a small part of their programing left inside of them. Maybe I should run this by Mr Hiram?

"Good evening Mr Hiram."

"Good evening Mrs Shade, is there something I can help you with?"

"I want to put the compensatory release on the city, do you approve?"

"The compensatory release, what is it needed for?"

"I'm going to take over the gutters." There's a moment of silence and I'm expecting him to turn down my request.

"You have the go ahead, take over the gutters. But what will you do with the population?"

"Flush out the mutants and have them recruited what is left will either join their fellow mutant occupants as agents for our department or be eradicated resolving our problem completely and permanently."

"I have every faith in you, good luck, High Superior." I can almost feel the power behind my title as its purpose begins to swell into something bigger than myself, New Zion will persevere and excel beyond its name, by my hand and soon I will rule it as well.

I will go directly to the membrane department by the bullet train because all of the agents' vehicles as well as mine are under repairs. I cannot believe the time and effort that it's going to take to get done with this mission, a mission that should have been completed a decade ago. Finally the doors open and I walk directly to the agent waiting for me.

"I need to be at the membrane department yesterday, don't hesitate, use the time drift gear if you must, just get me there faster than you can." The driver hesitates and looks at me in his rear view mirror.

"I'm sorry, but I 'm not allowed to give transport to any of the agents from your department."

"Excuse me, you are also a part of this department and you have no right to stop me from reaching my destination." The contempt in my voice is near a violation of the law.

"I'm sorry agent, but that was the order from our High Superior."

"Well in that case, you are allowed to take me to the membrane department, because I am the new High Superior." I pass my new identity card to him so he could read it for himself; I can't help but feel smug by asserting my authority on someone else. I can see his ears going red.

"I'm sorry High Superior."

"Take me to the membrane department now."

"Yes High Superior." Inside my mind I'm purring like a sublime feline, High Superior is a name that no one will ever be able to resist, they are not worthy so much as to gather the crumbs beneath my table. He went into the time drift gear; and then into g-force throttle, in a blink it looks like everything around me has just disappeared and in the second blink I'm at the membrane department. I put on my identity hologram brace, a large but light metal ring that goes above my elbow and I put my identity card in the slot of the ring. A hologram of my head appears then my barcode and my name of rank below it, everyone wears their hologram brace in the membrane department, it's because the membrane department is the one place where discretion is vital. The front desk is crowded by enquiries, but I only need to make a loud ahem and when they see who I am they step aside, I am so important. I stride surely toward the front desk and speak to the attendant with a hint of polite assertiveness and self-confidence.

"I want a direct and private audience with the head of this department."

"Would you like to book an appointment?" She stammered, I'll repeat myself for the first and last time.

"I said direct, which means now."

"But I don't think he has the time to…"

"Then he will make time for the High Superior. Can you not see my identity hologram; you are looking at the new High Superior. That's why everyone stepped aside."

She looked flustered and so afraid of me, I would be afraid of the High Superior as well. Every High Superior begins to develop a massive ego and a terrible temperament that goes with it, but I swear I'll never become a malevolent dictator. Aggression is forbidden and against the law, but the higher you go up the political ladder the more transparent these laws become and the powers that be will do anything to maintain Zion's peace, ask me I should know by now. Within a day I have been able to do almost everything that hasn't been accomplished in ten years; and this mission requires force.

"I am so sorry; I will inform him right away."

"You do that." I like the look of the building it has a clean and classical feel to it, it appears to be simplistic but there is so much activity happening here.

"He said he will be with you right away."

"Thank you." It took him less than a second; he's a strange looking man almost like a typical minion for a mad scientist.

"I don't have time for niceties and I don't have the luxury to waste time. I need you to put every mind into compensatory release." I know I sound a little abrupt and rude, but what I was trying to do was show my assertiveness, now he's probably intimidated by me.

"Can we walk and talk so that no one has to over hear our conversation." He asked me, oh my word the common rule is to never stay in a public area while talking about anything confidential. All I could do is nod and we had our conversation as we walked towards his laboratory.

"We don't know if it will work, we've tested the finished program on ten people, eight out of ten people were successfully released from their Utopia programing, they gained seventy percent of their independent brain function, the other two showed positive results as well but their release percentage went up by sixteen percent. One was an artist and started drawing pictures."

"So what, every programing allows creativity?"

"He was drawing historical places, events and organisations; things that should not be remembered from the ages before Zion was created. The Golden Gate Bridge, The White House; Independence Day, Women's Day, Youth Day; WHO, Green Peace, Animal Rights Society; all of them were destroyed by the Zion's command and then all evidence of the past was wiped clean of everyone's minds and those are just a few. An artist was one of the ten people we tested and he was beginning to break free from the Utopia Program, we tried to put him back on the grid but by then he had gained full consciousness so we had to put him down."

"Estimate how many people out of fourteen million that I will have to "put down" to release everyone else successfully with discretion."

"Seven hundred thousand people, give or take. The factors of success are influenced by the given situation."

"What kind of situation are you referring to Doctor?" I can feel my temper begin to rise again, I stop and count to ten in my mind, now I can carry on with the pretence that I don't want to strangle this short repulsive looking man.

"If someone gains full control of their mind, or breaks the law intentionally in front of others, more people might break free from their programing from the shock." Time is ticking and this man is wasting mine.

"I'm sorry Doctor, but I don't want to hear any more excuses, release the program or I will find someone who will." He looks so shocked, dumbfounded for a man whose IQ is two hundred. A typical cliché, a stupid genius who is the first in history to create software that can manipulate track and alter the mind and body on a molecular level within less than two hours at the age of twelve; but he still cannot follow a simple order from someone who is obviously above him.

"Yes High Superior, if you would please follow me." We stepped onto a slim hover platform that took us directly to the membrane, the one and only living computer that could control every function of the system by a verbal or mental request. It was supposed to be the only one of its kind; and I'm quite sure it is. It looks like a massive digital tower, circuits and nitrobyte electricity passed through them like neon battery acid. The room is full of female workers but I don't really have the time to worry about them, besides they work with for the Zion like the Doctor and I.

"So this is the membrane?"

"No that is the host, where the membrane is stored, they are the membrane." He said indicating to dozens of beautiful women clad in silver cat suits that have the occasional transparent wire or circuit woven into their suit shining through the material because they are also pulsating with nitrobyte electricity. I didn't even notice their looks, they were just people doing their jobs or enjoying their breaks (unlike my agents who take their work more seriously) and they all looked exactly alike, there were a few circuits in different parts of their bodies, but besides that nothing made them look different from each other.

"They are the membrane?" I'm staring at them right now, a hologram emanating from one's palm while another woman was talking to her; they were discussing what they were seeing in the hologram; two others were sitting on a glowing couch riddled with circuits and inlets talking casually. One woman was drawing with a micro pen on a hand held plasma screen; another woman was busy writing a list of words on a large plasma screen that took up most of the opposite wall at such a speed that it made my eyes hurt, each sentence was absorbed instantly; one is smiling brightly as she walks non-stop on a treadmill at a constant speed; a woman is smiling and petting holograms of pets, the one standing next to her is holding a hologram baby in her arms; the woman next to her is a woman talking sweetly to a smiling hologram child; another woman is holding the hand of a hologram teenage boy slightly younger than herself the next one held the hands with a man about her age that looked similar to the teenager and lastly a woman was sitting next to the hologram of an old man smiling. So many of these women doing so many things, interacting in so many ways acting playful, parental, adult like; the list goes on.

"Why are they doing all of these things at random intervals; and what does all of this accomplish?"

"They are portraying the behaviour of everyone in the society, are they nott?" They were practically doing what normal people would do on the outside world.

"Yes they are, so they represent normal people?"

"They are more important than that; they are performing and downloading the Utopia Program into the minds of society. Each one of them act the way we want the citizens to act and react, our Pandoras are the mind of the system.

"Is that what you call these women?"

"Actually, it's the name that came from the Memory Box, their mother and the first of our membrane living computers. She gained a mind all of her own, but she is completely dedicated to Zion. She has sacrificed herself twice two protect our president and the ministers of Zion from two undercover attacks from the gutters; she erased all the files, but none the less she is the most valuable asset of the membrane system." Okay this guy is beginning to sound a little too attached to his work.

"Right, so which one will activate the compensatory release?" He doesn't hesitate this time, which is very good because it shows that he understands my authority. He takes the ID card out of his brace and puts it into a slot in the "Host" a metal slide moves sideways and he puts his hand on the scanning plate. After the scanning laser analyses his palm and finger prints a word flickered onto the screen, affirmed, then he called Pandora 12 to help him by putting her hand on the scanning plate, after her hand is scanned the screen says affirmed as well. He turns to me with a gesture that says 'it's all yours now', surely not…?

"You want to scan my hand?"

"Only a High Superior or an executive can unlock the last encryption, so if you want to begin the compensatory release you have to let the Host scan your hand and finger prints." I don't want to look uneasy in front of this man, it's one thing to have it on a card and a hologram; it's another thing to have it confirmed by the mainstream system. I nod with a cool and deliberate smile while I take my place in front of the scanning plate, I can feel my heart stop for just a while as my hand inches closer and closer to the screen, and my hand was pushed forward, or pulled by an unknown force with mediate impact on the scanning plate. I begin to worry, as it takes more than a minute for the scanner to check my hand and finger prints, then the force that held my hand down released its grip and I quickly pulled my hand back, a green word flickered on the screen, affirmed. The panels of the huge machine began to fold into thin walls that separated empty containers that could fit an entire body; all of the Pandoras stopped what they were doing, except for the Pandora standing in front of the plasma screen who continued to write away. The Pandora's walked towards the host and climbed into the compartments, the panels closed and the compartments were erected. The Pandoras' bodies were released from the compartments on the inside and they were pulled into the glowing centre of the huge machine, disappearing immediately.

"Is it done?"

"It is, the one that's standing in front of the screen is the Mother Box." She turned and looked at us when he mentioned her name. She looks human, completely in every sense of the word, soft blonde hair tied into a braid, bright blue eyes and skin with a fading tan.

"I have decided that my name should be Betty, as it reminds me of Beta." Her voice doesn't have the same tone as all the others, her voice sounds human. A blur of images flashed through my mind all at once competing to get my attention, but I shut them out just as quickly as they had come.

"Betty, what a lovely name." She smiles at my compliment and turns her gaze to her work again.

"Betty is a nice name, but I always pictured her as a Caroline."

"Not likely, my mother in laws name is Caroline."

My head is throbbing, is this a headache? I've never been sick in my life and that includes having a headache, it's so foreign and unpleasant. It feels like something is softly and slowly tapping my skull with a sledgehammer, I say something and not someone because it is grammatically incorrect; there is not a human in all of Utopia that could inflict pain on another human or any animal. So why is my head in so much pain? I have to go to the hospital, I'll ask David to take me to there as soon as possible, what if this was a serious brain disease, what would the agency do without me!?

"David I'm fine, I just want to know if I've got a headache or not. I'm at the office; you're already on the way? That's great I'll just ask one of the maintenance to lock up after me." I hear two soft footsteps and in a second I've pulled out my gun.

"Whoa now, I'm just the maintenance." The lights went on and I see that it's just some a girl wearing the maintenance uniform, so it's all clear, nothing to worry about yet I still feel a little hostile on the inside.

"I'm sorry High Superior." She said hesitantly, I'm beginning to grow tired of my new title; in fact I'm beginning to feel very tired.

"It's fine, I have been on high alert the entire day so I'm a little on edge."

"Once again I'm sorry, you don't have to talk to me, High Superior, I can understand that someone as important as you needs to spend her time on better things than talking to a member of the maintenance staff."

"No it's fine; and since it's not office hours you can just call me Catherine.

"Yes Ms Catherine…Mrs Catherine Shade?"

"Yes, do I know you?" I ask, back on high alert and my shooting hand slowly and casually slips into my pocket, she fumbles trying to reach for something in her pocket, a real assassin would not waste this opportunity; she pulls out a notepad and a pen from her pocket.

"I am such a huge fan, I have every article about your missions, how you put the bad guys away and keep the city safe when you were an agent out on the field." Not only am I relieved, but I'm also starting to feel a little better this girl was a real pick me up.

"My niece wants to be just like you." I can't help but smile at this one, I can honestly see the admiration and happiness in her eyes.

"You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment." She says almost tearing up, I click the pen and a bolt of nitrobyte electricity passes through my system. Everything begins to fade away and I can't move my body; in just a brief second I had a flash back of a moment just like this. And for the second time in my life, everything goes black.


	4. Chapter 4

Where am I? I open my eyes that feel heavy after I had just woken up from a deep sleep, I look around me and all I see is a ruined room, a hotel room. One wall is severely cracked and the roof is sagging with a small round gap in it, a roof fan is lying on the floor, the bed has been broken to almost no end and it looks as if some has tossed it to the side of the wall, red splattered stains are all over the carpet and I hope that they came from wine, but looking at the curling, torn and bubbled yellow wall paper I can tell that wine is not one of the things that you'll ever find in this place. My hand is sore and so is my head and I don't have a clue about where I am. Then I see him, a tall strawberry blonde man, probably David's height and figure but just a little slimmer considering that David's body is a little muscular. He's leaning against the wall by the window, carefully peering through a gap next to the plastic window shades; as if he's trying to see what was going on outside without anyone seeing him. There is such a ruckus everywhere, shouting and the sound of people fighting; loud crashes and alarms going off, there is dust coming from the roof as a huge fight above us is actually effecting the room, there is anarchy in New Zion. But why, how had this happened? I carefully try to stand up without making a noise but he speaks to me without turning around.

"It would be safer if you stick with me, that way you won't get killed by the citizens."

"Who are you and how did I get here?"

"If you don't remember who I am then I won't tell you my name; and it doesn't matter how you got here, what is important is why." His solemn voice catches me off guard; and I can't help but get the feel that he is a man with a complete disregard for authority.

"I am the High Superior of New Zion and I don't think that you are entitled to play games with me." When he doesn't respond I reach for my phone in my pocket, but it isn't there, neither is my gun.

"Don't bother, besides if you made contact with anyone now the people out there will trace your call, High Superior." He is seriously getting on my nerves, but why does he act as if I'm the one who's in trouble? I won't bother to ask him where my phone and gun is because it's pretty obvious that he has it.

"As your High Superior I demand that you…"

"That I what, you have no gun, no phone to call for help or back up and I'm the only person who knows where you are." Strike one, he's right I don't have a gun to defend myself if he has mine; strike two, he's right about the phone, with no back up my authority means very little; and strike three, I don't know where I am and with all the mayhem outside I don't think I'll be able to find any place that I do know. So I decide to concede as I am at the mercy of someone who unfortunately has complete authority over me at the moment. My biggest concern is why New Zion is tearing itself apart? The sound of an explosion fills the air, okay now things are getting far, far beyond all redemption.

"What is happening?" I ask the strange man, he turns around and I see his face for the first time, my heart almost stops and my mind goes numb. He looks so familiar, a feeling that I had never felt before is swimming all around me and a flash back suddenly rushes to my my mind and this time, for some unknown reason I'll let it come to me without a fight. We had been in the gutters together, just talking and joking around, he was telling me the most amazing things he'd do with his life when New Zion went back to what it used to be; he was so animated that it eventually became an illusion that he hadn't intended to make and he didn't even notice. He just went with it as if it was real and I was captured by it, how he could live his dream whenever he wanted; all I can do is walk through walls. I snap out of the memory and I have the strangest feeling as if I am more than just a High Superior. In my flash back I had thought about something, something that is going through my mind, it ended with such a strange idea. Me, walk through walls, that's impossible.

"Nothing is impossible, Shadow Cat." Bang! Like the walls of a dam that had come crashing, the truth and all of my memories pour into my mind with such speed and force that it's making me woozy.

"Ian, I think I need a little help here." I can feel my body begin to go limp and he rushes to catch me but my body goes right through his hands and I hit the floor, slowly the illusion fades away and I find myself in my apartment. I sit up and when Ian extends his hand to help lift me off the floor I swat it away.

"You jerk; you scared the living daylight out of me!" Even though I know he's smiling on the inside he is genuinely stung by my retaliation.

"What, what did I do!?"

"You had to put me in such an ugly illusion to get me to remember you!?"

"It wasn't just for me; it was for everyone back at home."

"And what did that have to do with the Armageddon you put me in."

"Actually Cat, what you saw and heard in the illusion, besides the hotel room was real. Look outside your window." Hearing that, I don't think I want to look outside, but I walk towards the window anyway and I look down at a world I don't know, I want to turn away and close my eyes but I'm frozen. Chaos, destruction and some of it is coming in my direction; Ian follows my eyes and sees that someone had looked up and was pointing directly at me, two others spot me and they run into the building.

"Cat, can you remember how to walk through walls because we are going to need it."

"I'm still trying to figure that part out."

"Try faster."

"Don't push it."

"I'm just thinking that we need to disappear before they make us disappear." I think about what he said, we can't get out of here because the only way out is through the elevator, trying to use the elevator right now would not only be stupid but dangerous. How do we get out without being seen?

"That's it Ian, we have to disappear, just use your power to make us invisible, they can't get what they can't see."

"I can make an illusion that replicates this room but without us in it."

"This is why I can always rely on you, you can actually think on your feet and make things happen. Okay let's pull a Houdini." He smiles at me and closes his eyes for a second or two and nothing has changed, a stampede of footsteps end on the opposite side of the door and then two huge kicks afterwards makes the door brake off its hinges, it nearly hits us as it flew across the room. Something that looks more like a blur passes us as it shifts back and forth in and out of every room. It finally slows down before it walks toward the door way, agent Sanchez, I saw him in my dream, except I didn't know it was a memory back when I worked for New Zion. He was one of the mutant trackers that chased me into the hotel, the hotel? The illusion Ian had put me in was one of the rooms in that hotel, my throat goes dry and I find it difficult to breathe; Ian sees this and asks me a question but my head is spinning. Ian is very strong, he had given me a hug once and lifted me right off the ground. I can remember the scent that came off the strong man that had tried to catch me in the hotel, Ian smells just like him.

"Nothing, she must have run when she saw us." Agent Sanchez told someone as she walked into the room, isn't that box? No wait, she wanted to be called Betty… Betty Thomson. She had been taken by the trackers and they probably turned her into the super computer at the membrane department, it makes sense, the Pandoras that control the entire city were linked to the box, Betty Thomson has the power of telepathy and in dire consequences she can even manipulate the minds of others. Did all of them break free when I initiated the compensatory release, wouldn't that make them my friends again; but if they were my friends why would they come here so aggressively? And what about Ian, he had found me just before Betty and Sanchez did and he is trying to help me; doesn't that mean he is on my side? But he was also the man who tried to catch me in the hotel…he could have used any illusion, why the hotel room?

"Check every apartment and every room, she couldn't have gotten far." Betty seems to be the person in charge here; because Sanchez did exactly as she told him, why did he have to question me when I gave him orders? That's beside the point, oh my gosh I can feel her in my head and hear her thought speech, it was like a microphone in an empty room, not that my head is empty.

_I know you're here Cat, don't run because you cannot out run us and don't hide because I will sense you out, give me time to find your minds frequency and we will catch you before you can escape._

What is wrong with them, Betty is the centre of the compensatory release, why is she acting like this?

"Ian, we have to leave now!"

"Okay, we can still run while Sylvester is checking the building."

"Is that his real name?"

"Yes; and that woman who was talking to us through her thoughts is…"

"I know, she's Betty Thomson, she was with us in the gutters as a part of the patrol unit, I hadn't recognised her before the release. I didn't know that the agency had assigned a mutant recruit to be my PA."

"They wanted to make sure that if you remembered your past they could still catch you. In fact, your husband, David, he is also one of the recruits, the memories you have of the two of you were all conjured up and Betty had them rooted into your mind."

"Wow, you have it all figured out, but I don't remember telling you that I'm married."

"I saw the ring on your finger when I abducted you, sorry for that again it was for the greater good."

The greater good, I said that when I was High Superior, that was the motto that all the agents had to remember, 'for the greater good'.

"Its fine, I'm just glad I'll never get to see Mr Hiram again, he is an evil dictator."

"I know he works for the Zion, but he is a good man at heart."

"I guess so, so how did you find me?"

"I had to make sure I knew every detail of your life before I came to save you."

"Like my Husband's name that I didn't tell you."

"Exactly"

"So where are we going to now?" Any second now.

"I'm going to take you to a safe place, you don't have to worry I will lead you?"

"Towards what?"

"Towards your real purpose as the High Superior of New Zion!" I saw his hand inch towards his gun the minute I began to question him and just before he could point the gun at me, I let go of everything I knew about gravity and human biology and I fell right through the floor. I would have paid good money to have seen his face.

"Okay so it's official, I have no allies and there is no one I can trust; Ian still has my phone and gun, my phone?" I run through the exit and look left to right, how do I escape from a guy that moves at the speed of a bullet? My car, but it's in repairs, I'll go to the train station while they search the building. I run through every obstacle in my way and it means nothing as there is chaos everywhere, but the citizens aren't the cause of it, it's the agents. I don't stop moving, but everywhere I look I see the civilians running, scattering away from me like ants from a raindrop, it's like this everywhere. The agents are shooting into the crowds, mutant recruits are using their powers against the people they are supposed to protect, the mayhem, the fear and my power is the only thing that helps me reach my destination I run right through the walls of the speeding bullet train and land hard on its floor. I hear people gasp and watch them back away from me, but one man actually looks like he's ready to start a fight.

"You think you can just come in here and attack us for no good reason, you think that you can do whatever you want just because you work for the Zion." He's a large, bulky man whose red in the face with tattoos all over his arm saying things like 'peace to all' but they seem a little out of place as the guy's muscles tense, I know what he's going to do. I let his massive fist pass right through me, everyone gasps and I expect them to back away, but they do quite the opposite. They start to shout and shake their fists in the air at me and with I high pitched climax they converge, a single woman breaks free from the crowd and slips out the train doors as it slows down; she keeps walking until the train moves on and she stares at the people in the train looking confused as I am no longer there, when they are out of view she walks towards a shop and enters with her phone to her ear.

"David, when you get this, phone me back. There's this guy at our apartment that has lost it and is saying crazy things, he told me that you are an agent for New Zion. Just make sure that you avoid our place and don't even be seen near it, okay. I love you." She puts her phone in her pocket and she walks into one of the isles, I phase out of her body and leave the shop I hail down an agency taxi and tell him to take me to the Ecology department in the time drift gear, we are there in the blink of an eye hundreds of miles away from my apartment, just above the corners of New Zion.

"That's quite some distance, any reason?" I remember that even though I know who I really am, he doesn't, so I get into character as Catherine Shade.

"I am the High Superior; I don't need to explain my actions to anyone, now do I?"

"No, High Superior, sorry High Superior. May I open the door for you?"

"I'm fine, but thank you for your offer; I'll keep your kindness in mind during my next meeting with the executive." He smiles broadly and nods I step out of the vehicle and watch it leave before I go running again. I sent that call to my landline because it will go directly into voice mail, if Ian, Betty and Sylvester are still looking for me, they'll trace the call back to that woman's phone far away from where I am now. I'll go into the building of the Ecology department, but not for long because I'm going to be leaving the minute I see the right type of employee or worker. When I reach into my pocket for my ID card I feel nothing but the material of my pants, it was in my pocket when I showed it to the taxi driver I must have dropped it in the taxi as I got out; what if I need to clarify my status to security if they question me? I try to keep my composure as I walk towards the front desk and just as I expected the head of security walks towards me and I ready myself to run.

"High Superior, it is my pleasure to have finally met you, a High Superior does not need to verify their identity here, we always make sure that we know who works in every department. You're here because of the compensatory release, aren't you?" I am too giddy with relief to act high and mighty.

"Indeed, I have come to this department to enquire whether the professors here know how to resolve the situation as it is." There, that sounds diplomatic enough.

"Of course, do you need me to lead you to the laboratories?" He is so polite and helpful, I am so stupid. I am looking for someone who would have a vehicle and the man just walks up to me, he is the perfect candidate.

"There's just one thing, I'd like to park my car somewhere that is secure, due to all of the things that are happening at outside."

"Of course we have the company parking lot."

"That sounds ideal. You're right, it would be best if you show me the way."

"Anything you want, High Superior."

"Such a gentleman." I said batting my long and pretty eyelashes in such a flirtatious way that it makes him grin from ear to ear.

"Thank you High Superior."

"Please, call me Catherine."

"Okay Catherine, let me lead you there." I follow the tall and handsome man, if I was not a married woman, wait I'm married to a fraud! He takes me to the company parking lot and we look for a place where I can park my car. I scan the security cars, but I cannot tell the difference between any of them, I look at those big hands of his swaying slightly and I see a metal tag on his car keys, the ID of the car was 2871. Number plates are everywhere and every car is black, but there are a few cars that have stickers on the window screens and there is one car in row 2D, it said 'head of security', I don't really believe in signs but I'll take it.

"Is that your car?" He stops for a second and looks in the direction and nods with a proud grin."

"That's mine, latest model in all the departments, I'm privileged enough to have one of my own.

"Well I'd say it suits you, it's sleek yet it gives off the feel of sophistication and strength, how fast is it?"

"Well of course I can't drive past the speed limit, but it can out run any one of the vehicles in this parking lot. Plus it has all the features of the skyrocket hovercrafts that you'll see in the membrane department."

"Impressive, mind if I give take a spin?"

"What?" I grabbed his shoulder and phased into his body, wow he's tall.

"Okay, honey" I smile at the car and wave the keys at it.

"I'm taking you home with me."


End file.
